verge

pronunciation

How to pronounce verge in British English: UK [vɜːdʒ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce verge in American English: US [vɜːrdʒ] word us audio image

Noun:

a region marking a boundary
the limit beyond which something happens or changes
a ceremonial or emblematic staff
a grass border along a road
Verb:

border on; come close to

Word Origin

verge: verge: English has two words verge. The noun [14], which now means ‘edge’, was originally used in English for ‘penis’ (it is to this day a technical term for the male reproductive organ of invertebrate animals). It comes via Old French verge from Latin virga ‘rod’ (source also of English virgule [19]), and the sense ‘edge’ emerged in the 15th century from the notion of the limits of territorial jurisdiction of the Lord High Steward, as symbolized by his ‘rod’ of office.A verger is likewise etymologically someone who carries an official ‘rod’. The verb verge [17] comes from Latin vergere ‘bend, incline’, which also gave English converge [17] and diverge [17].=> verger, virgule; converge, diverge

verge (n.): "edge, rim," mid-15c., from Old French verge "twig, branch; measuring rod; penis; rod or wand of office" (12c.), hence, from the last sense, "scope, territory dominated" (as in estre suz la verge de "be under the authority of"), from Latin virga "shoot, rod, stick, slender green branch," of unknown origin. Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c. 1400). Modern sense is from the notion of within the verge (c. 1500, also as Anglo-French dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the king's court. Sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Meaning "point at which something happens" (as in on the verge of) is first attested c. 1600. "A very curious sense development." [Weekley]

verge (v.1): "tend, incline," c. 1600, from Latin vergere "to bend, turn, tend toward, incline," from PIE *werg- "to turn," from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Influenced by verge (v.2) "provide with a border" (c. 1600); "be adjacent to" (1787), from verge (n.). Related: Verged; verging.